The Green Bay Packers have been playing the Detroit Lions for more than 90 years now and the rivalry has produced its share of outstanding games and memorable moments. The Packers have also been the Lions most frequent opponent on Thanksgiving Day. But in 2011, we saw the dirtiest play in the history of the Packers rivalry with the Lions when Ndamukong Suh stomped on the arm of Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith well after the play was over while the Packers player was still on the ground.
Remembering the Dirtiest Play in the Packers Lions Rivalry: The Buildup
The 2011 Packers were the defending Super Bowl champs and were off to a perfect 10-0 start to the season. The offense, led by Aaron Rodgers and a group on dominant receivers, was elite. Rodgers would finish the season by winning the first of his four NFL MVP awards. The Green Bay defense excelled at taking the ball away. They were successful despite giving up a lot of yards.
Meanwhile, the Lions were 7-3 and knew they could stay in the NFC North Division race if they could find a way to end the Packers perfect season. The combination of Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson powered the Lions offense. Defensively, Detroit was tough. They had a strong defensive line that featured Suh clogging up the middle and Cliff Avril rushing the passer.
A capacity crowd of more than 66,000 fans packed Ford Field to see if the Lions could pull off the upset.
A Defensive First Half
The Lions had the ball three times in the first quarter and the Packers twice. The result was five punts. The game was intense and hard hitting from the start with both teams able to move the ball a little but unable to sustain drives.
That finally changed midway through the second quarter. The Lions had the ball at their own 20. On second down, Stafford tried to throw to Brandon Pettigrew, but his pass was intercepted by Packers linebacker Clay Matthews who returned the ball to the Detroit 13.
Rodgers went right for the jugular and drew a pass interference call in the end zone against Brandon McDonald who interfered with Greg Jennings in the end zone. Two plays later, Rodgers found Jennings on a three-yard touchdown pass to give the Packers a 7-0 lead.
The Lions tried to respond on the ensuring drive. Stafford connected with Johnson for 23 yards to key the drive, but it ended with a missed, 47-yard field goal try by Jason Hanson.
The first half ended with the Packers ahead 7-0. The Lions felt they were very much in this game and could pull off the upset with a strong second half.
Remembering the Dirtiest Play in the Packers Lions Rivalry: The Incident
The infamous incident took place at the end of the Packers opening drive of the second half. Rodgers drove the Packers downfield by throwing key passes. He found tight end Jermichael Finley 26 yards to get the drive going. Later, he found Donald Driver for 15 yards and then Jennings caught one for 19 more.
The drive appeared to stall deep in Lions territory. The Packers faced a 3rd-and-goal the Detroit three when Rodgers’ pass for Driver fell incomplete. Everyone thought the Packers would have to settle for a short field goal try.
But on the play, Suh and Dietrich-Smith got tangled. Suh pushed down Dietrich-Smith’s head on the turf a few times and then stomped on his right arm with his foot. All of this took place after the whistle had blown. Dietrich-Smith was only in the game to replace the injured Josh Sitton who left in the second quarter due to an injury. This flagrant and dirty play drew a personal foul penalty that gave the Packers an automatic first down. Suh was ejected from the game.
Two plays later, fullback John Kuhn scored on a one-yard run and the Packers led 14-0.
Reactions
Immediately after the game, Suh tried to claim innocence. “I was on top of a guy being pulled down. I was trying to get up off the ground,” Suh told reporters. “You see me pushing his helmet down because I was trying to remove myself from the situation. As I’m getting up, I’m getting pushed, so I’m getting myself in balance and getting away from the situation. I know what I did and the man upstairs knows what I did.”
He later “apologized” to his teammates, coaches, and Lions fans for “allowing the refs to have an opportunity to take me out of this game.”
The Packers weren’t buying any of it. “I don’t know what led him to do what he did,” said Dietrich-Smith said.
Offensive lineman T.J. Lang was blunt. “That’s [bleep],” he said. “Because I saw when I was walking over to see what was going on. He clearly had Evan by the face mask, pinned to the ground. His explanation is crap. He had both hands gripped on his face mask and he was twisting it. … There’s no doubt he deserved what he got. He was trying to rip Dietrich’s helmet off. You don’t just go for a guy’s head. That could be career-ending stuff.”
Even Suh’s teammates had a hard time defending him. “I don’t want to put anything on anyone, but we can’t have that,” Rashied Davis said. “It’s not Suh’s fault we lost the game. We lost this game as a team. But we can’t get that penalty.”
Remembering the Dirtiest Play in the Packers Lions Rivalry: Momentum Swings
Suh was an emotional leader of the Lions defense. When he was ejected, it took the heart out of the team. On their next possession, Packers linebacker Robert Francois intercepted Stafford to give the Packers the ball at their own 35.
On the very next play, Rodgers connected with James Jones down the middle for a 65-yard touchdown pass. The Packers led 21-0.
Charles Woodson intercepted Stafford again on the next Detroit drive. That set up a field goal by Mason Crosby, and the Packers led 24-0 with a little more than a minute left in the third quarter. The game was all but over.
The Packers added one more field goal in the fourth quarter and allowed two garbage time touchdowns by the Lions to win 27-15 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score.
The Aftermath
Suh continued to defend himself to reporters. “I understand in this world because of the type of player I am and person I am, that all eyes are on me,” Suh said. “So why would I do something to jeopardize myself and my team first and foremost? That’s why I don’t do bad things. If I want to hurt him, I’ll hit his quarterback as I did throughout that game.”
The Packers tried to remain above the fray. “We try to rise above anything that happens on the field, and you know, I’m proud of our guys,” Rodgers said. When asked why the Packers didn’t retaliate, Rodgers simply added, “That’s just the way we’re coached.”
Head coach Mike McCarthy agreed. “I felt it was an excellent character win for our football team,” he said. “I’m very proud of our football team to fight through adversity.”
“This team right here talked so much, it was unreal,” Finley added. “It was important to respond. We’ve been hearing talk in the paper, talk on TV, but we put them in their place today.”
Defensive tackle Ryan Pickett acknowledged this was a tough win. “These guys had it out for us from the start of the game,” he said. “They came out and gave it their best effort, and we came out with ours and we were able to hold them off. But it was a very chippy game, a lot of trash talking and things like that.”
“They’re a good team as well, but we’re a better team,” Woodson said.
Remembering the Dirtiest Play in the Packers Lions Rivalry: Suspended
The next day, the Lions issued a statement that called Suh’s behavior “unacceptable.” Suh then changed his tune and admitted he “made a mistake” and intended to learn from it.
The NFL ultimately suspended him two games without pay since this was the fifth time the league disciplined Suh for incidents that took place on the field. The following year on Thanksgiving, Suh was fined $30,000 for kicking Texans quarterback Matt Schaub in the groin.
The Packers ultimately finished the season 15-1 but lost their first playoff game to the Giants. The Lions made the playoffs as a wild card team with a 10-6 mark but were soundly defeated by the Saints in their first playoff game.
The Suh incident remains infamous as one of the most blatantly dirty plays in recent memory. To their credit, the Packers rose above it and won the football game.
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